Pakistani Military Names Spy Agency Chief

By JANE PERLEZ

Published: October 1, 2008

The chief of the Pakistani Army appointed a new head of the nation's top spy organization on Tuesday in a move that consolidated his control over an agency that the United States contends has been helping the Taliban mount operations against American forces in Afghanistan.

The new spy chief is Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, 56, the director general of military operations, the nerve center for the Pakistani Army.

He was appointed by Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who led the spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, until he became army chief in November. That was when Pervez Musharraf gave up the role, nine months before resigning as president.

Under Pakistan's new civilian government, General Kayani has been making his mark on the army, and Tuesday's announcement of the new spy chief, along with a roster of appointments of new senior generals, put his personal stamp on the top echelon of the military, traditionally Pakistan's most elite institution.

As head of the intelligence agency, General Pasha will be dealing directly with the Central Intelligence Agency about Washington's determination to stanch attacks by militants from the Taliban and Al Qaeda into Afghanistan, and to inhibit the ability of the extremists to plot a major terrorist attack against the United States from the secrecy of the ungoverned tribal region.

He assumes the role at a time of mounting tension between the United States and Pakistan.

In early September, American Special Operations troops crossed from Afghanistan into Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal area on a raid against Qaeda operatives who provide much of the technical and strategic backup for the Taliban fighters.

The American raid led to a tough public repudiation of Washington from General Kayani as a breach of Pakistani sovereignty. General Kayani said Pakistan would defend its borders at ''all costs,'' an extraordinary statement from one ally to another, and since then there have been no known incursions by American ground forces.

In August, General Pasha accompanied General Kayani to a secret, highly unusual meeting between top Pakistani military leaders and American commanders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln.

Pakistani officials said the appointments were part of a regularly scheduled shuffle, and had little to do with the new civilian government. They said the choices were entirely those of General Kayani. The promotion notices were signed by the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, as a routine matter, said Shuja Nawaz, an expert on the Pakistani military.

General Pasha was ultimately responsible for the assaults by the military currently in Bajaur, in the tribal area, and in Swat, in the North-West Frontier Province, Mr. Nawaz said.

General Pasha's appointment comes two months after President Asif Ali Zardari and the senior adviser at the Interior Ministry, Rehman Malik, made a failed effort to wrest control of the spy agency from the army, which has always run it.

General Kayani's announcement about General Pasha reaffirmed the military's institutional control of the intelligence agency, the English-language newspaper Dawn said Tuesday.

The political party that Mr. Zardari heads, the Pakistan Peoples Party, has publicly criticized the intelligence agency for meddling in domestic affairs and arresting suspects without cause. The party's spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said the leadership change did not necessarily address the core issues of concern.

''The real issue is whether the ISI is subject to civilian control or not, whether it is bound by a certain framework for the Parliament, whether their operations, action and finances are subject to review by the Parliament,'' Mr. Babar said.

Retired Pakistani officers considered friendly toward the United States said General Pasha's appointment was positive.

''It will give a good signal to the Americans,'' said a retired general, Talat Masood. ''He is rated a really good officer by international standards.''

General Pasha may also provide an opening for more candid discussions with the Americans, particularly over the Taliban, Mr. Masood said.

American officials have long complained that Pakistan conducts a ''dual policy'' on the Taliban -- hostile to them as an ally of the United States while keeping up ties and allowing them to operate into Afghanistan.

''There will be greater clarity regarding the dual policy,'' Mr. Masood said. ''What is needed is a better understanding by the United States and India why it is that Pakistan supports the Haqqani network.'' Mr. Masood was referring to the militants of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a mujahedeen fighter from the 1980s war in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union who has since turned against the United States.

General Kayani passed over 14 major generals for promotion, a break with Mr. Musharraf, who as army chief used to indulge in wholesale promotions, regardless of merit, to create his own lobby, said a senior military officer, who asked not to be named because personnel matters were involved. Among the other changes announced on Tuesday were shifts of two Musharraf appointees due for rotation. The head of the agency's domestic activities, Gen. Nusrat Naeem, and the chief of special operations, Gen. Asif Akhtar, were replaced and not promoted.

U.S. Missile Strike Reported

MIRAM SHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) -- An American remotely piloted aircraft fired two missiles at a house in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, killing five people, Pakistani intelligence agency officials said Wednesday.

The aircraft fired two missiles at a house near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, two intelligence agency officials said. The area is a known sanctuary for Pakistani Taliban and foreign militants near the Afghan border. ''We have reports of five dead, including foreign militants,'' said one of the officers, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.